Excavator buckets are built to serve one purpose, digging. But rocks, dirt and soil aren’t always the same, so why should the excavation buckets be? Excavation machines or excavators are used to puncture the soil. This might be hard rock, soft soil or ground covered with ice. Thus, the different uses of the excavator buckets become important. Here are some of the different types of excavator buckets and their uses.

Digging Bucket

The most common excavator bucket is the digging bucket. It is the standard bucket that comes with every excavator. These all purpose buckets are used to plough through hard soil, rocks or even frost covered soil. They come in various sizes and shapes with short blunt teeth, to break through hard soil. These teeth may be longer and sharper, depending on the hardness of the soil.

Rock Bucket

This excavator bucket is meant to work with hard rocks. They are similar in design to digging buckets but have reinforced structural parts for strength. They have longer, sharper teeth, narrow V-shaped cutting edge, and can push with more power. They can break through hard rock while maintaining their structural integrity.

V Bucket

The V bucket is a special excavator bucket. It has a V shaped structure that helps it penetrate easily through the soil. The angled sides make it easier to dig. This saves costs on power while digging. Work that involves laying pipes is ideally suited to this type of excavator bucket.

Cleanup Bucket

These buckets are similar in function to an ice cream scoop. They have a larger capacity, no teeth and are used for scooping applications. They are used to scoop soft materials and soil. Their solid build and handling of soft materials, usually keeps maintenance costs low. These excavator buckets are used for work such as backfilling, ditching, sloping, and leveling.

Hardpan Bucket

Bearing resemblance in design to a rock bucket, these excavator buckets are also built for toughness. However, the difference is, they come with ripper teeth attached to the back of the bucket. The function of these teeth is to loosen hard closely packed soil while digging.

Skeleton Bucket

A skeleton bucket is a modified digging bucket. It accomplishes an additional task while digging. The bucket is made up of bars that have gaps. Small particles fall through these gaps during excavation. This utility is helpful in segregating coarser soil with finer particles.